NORMAN, Okla. —With 154 points in its past three games, No. 8 Oklahoma was supposed to provide the stiffest test yet for No. 5 Notre Dame's vaunted defense when the Fighting Irish visited the Sooners on Saturday night, the storied programs' first clash at Memorial Stadium since 1966.

Led by 11 tackles, a sack, and an interception from senior linebacker Manti Te'o, the Irish defense proved up to the challenge in a 30-13 win to move to 8-0. But it would not have been possible without the best performance of Notre Dame quarterback Everett Golson's young career.

Golson, a sophomore playing only his seventh college game, put up impressive numbers, but not exactly ones that pop out of the box score. He was 13-for-25 passing for 177 yards. He also ran 11 times for 64 yards and the tiebreaking touchdown—a one-yard plunge with 5:05 left in the fourth quarter. A more important figure was 32:28, Notre Dame's time of possession, including 19:57 in the second half.

"That was a big help for our defense," Te'o said. "Not only keeping us fresh, but allowing us to make the corrections and adjustments that we needed to. It was a great team win—all three sides of the ball: offense, defense, and special teams."

The biggest question mark for Notre Dame as a serious contender for the national championship was offense. Yet, the Irish came into Memorial Stadium and put up 30 points, the first time a visitor had done that since Texas Tech last Oct. 22. The only turnover of the game was Te'o's interception, and Notre Dame was 7-for-15 on third downs to Oklahoma's 4-for-14 conversion rate.

"I thought that Everett Golson led our team," Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said. "He had obviously been challenged to continue to grow, and it's been a process, but I thought tonight was a big step for our quarterback, and our offense elevated itself against great competition on the road."

It was the third downs and the big plays—a 62-yard touchdown run by Cierre Wood in the first quarter, and a 50-yard pass from Golson to speedster Chris Brown on the tiebreaking drive—that took the air out of a stadium-record crowd of 86,031.

"The environment was great," Golson said. "I kind of like playing away. That's just me, personally. I think it's because I like people counting me out. That's just how I've always been. ... You know, I think what we've been hearing was a lot of people didn't think we could win this game. That just added a lot of fuel to my fire that was already burning. I just wanted to come out and show them that we could."

Golson was not sure that he could have led an effort like this at the beginning of the season—"I can admit that six or seven weeks ago, I didn't really feel that I was ready," he said—and credited both his game experience over the course of the campaign and the experience of watching from the sideline last week against BYU, as he sat out with a concussion. It took a good deal of patience to lead those methodical drives that ruined Oklahoma's rhythm, and Golson's ability to run and throw effectively and consistently, if not spectacularly, gave Oklahoma fits as the game wore on.

"I thought Golson made it difficult for us," Oklahoma defensive coordinator Mike Stoops said. "I thought he threw it effectively. He's the guy that makes things a little bit uncomfortable for you. I thought he played an excellent football game."

And he reacted to it like a veteran, parrying a question about Notre Dame's undefeated start with the old "one game at a time" line. Straight from a coach's manual, sure, but also sure to make the coach happy.

"If we start listening to national championship and BCS (talk), we'll lose," Kelly said. "We'll lose a football game. They're a pretty smart group, and they know that if we stick with what we've done, stick with the process of just preparing for Pittsburgh, they'll be fine. But if they start listening, we'll lose."

The Irish haven't lost yet, and with Florida's loss on Saturday, Notre Dame figures to rise to in the BCS standings behind Alabama. Notre Dame, Oregon and Kansas State, which dealt Oklahoma its other loss this season, are all jockeying for position.

Golson helped Notre Dame solidify its case as a national title contender. The Irish now have four weeks to make a closing argument.